


we've run out of time

by commandont



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Soulmate AU, angst no comfort, headcanoned backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 10:01:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandont/pseuds/commandont
Summary: “Tell me, Kyosuke. Do robots like you dream of love?”“...I’m not sure whether to be insulted by such a remark.”--Time is never on the side of those who need it the most.





	we've run out of time

**Author's Note:**

> i metioned before that i was taking a break from writing danganronpa fics but do you really expect me not to write something for the birthday of best girl? you cowards. you heathens
> 
> i'm sorry chisa honey you deserve so much better than me baby
> 
> soulmate au where there's a countdown on your wrist to the day of your soulmate's death, and if you realise they're your soulmate you can stop them from dying.

As soon as he learned how to count, he didn’t like the implications of the numbers on his wrist.

 

When a human is born into the world, unsure of the environment around then, some potent, otherworldly force decided that, instead of taking pity on the lowly creature who needed to learn how to survive and adapt, they would make everything harder for them, and put the life of another human being in their hands, from the moment they were born. And so, a young Kyosuke Munakata was burdened with the knowledge that, if he didn’t know his soulmate was in 26 years, they would die.

 

Of course, the young boy didn’t pay it much mind at this point  - he was more concerned about playing with his friends and his toys (who were one and the same), and learning, as well as seeing his parents from time to time, though the occasion they would not be busy would be rare. He was often left to his own devices, reading out loud to stuffed animals and his other friends, hidden away in a back room of the large office building of the Munakata Corporation to keep him safe, and so he wouldn’t disturb the work and meetings of his parents, and they pulled the strings on their side of the stock market. He wasn’t lonely, of course - all his friends were such good listeners - so he didn’t think too much of the fact his parents hadn’t seen him in a few hours, or that they hardly ate dinner together. After all, he was only a small child, and why should he care about what the grown-ups were talking about? That’s what they always told him, anyways.

\--

It was only when the concept of being the metaphorical executioner for someone became more comprehensible as he grew older, did it weigh heavy on his shoulders, along with everything else. Run the Munakata cooperation, become a successful businessman… and keep someone he may never see from dying. No small task, but, it fit right in with everything else that seemed to tower over him in his future. He now had 16 years to find and realise who he was looking for, and who the forces that put him on this planet had paired him with before he could comprehend he was even alive.

 

Of course, he was a prodigy child - incredibly intelligent, the top of his classes and the best student among the feeble minds of his classmates, a natural born leader, stubborn, yet adaptive, if the situation called for it. And while he earned the title of Student Council President within his middle school, his mind would often dwell on the ticking clock of the mystery person ticking down on his wrist, now often covered by a watch or the sleeve of his school uniform. He couldn’t bear to look at it - the responsibility made him sick. He didn’t want anymore. He knew he couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there, but still. Not now. He’s deal with it later, when he was ready.

\--

11 years left on the clock, but things were already looking up for him.

 

Hope’s Peak Academy was known across the world as the centre of hope for the nation of Japan, producing the top students and pushing them out into society with 100% chance of success since its formation. As a member of its 74th class, at age 15, Munakata stood at the front gate, staring up at the large, intimidating building, the monochrome crest on the front reflecting spring sunlight, the SHSL Student Council President had a chance to search for the person whose life was his to make or break. But, with his knowledge, surely he could find them in time, couldn’t he?

 

As he took a step forward, he felt something knock into his arm, and as he looked to the side he watched a brown haired girl trip over her own feet and fall onto the path beside him, the satchel she was holding spilling papers all over the neatly laid stones, flying off further in the gentle breeze that carried sakura petals from the trees either side of the path with it. Munakata blinked, and watch the girl look up for a moment, her face red and her expression sheepish before her face shot away, looking back to the ground as she picked up papers, quickly speaking her apologies in a flustered tone. Silently, he crouched down to help her, stacking papers in one arm and picking them up with the other hand-

 

Their hands glided over one another, reaching for a paper close by Munakata’s feet, and for a moment, time stood still, as the looked at each other. The girl’s mouth hung slightly open, her eyes a brilliant emerald green, and her face still slightly flushed from embarrassment, a sakura petal falling into her hair as they stared, and said nothing. She flinched slightly as he reached over to pick it out of her hair, and toss it aside, taking hold of the paper and moving his hand away to place it on his pile. The girl blinked and pulled her hand away, standing to her feet with the paper’s she collected, her face going red again as she looked at her shoes, tapping her toes against one another.

“...Are you going to take these?”

“Huh? Oh!” She looked up and saw the pile of papers Munakata was holding, quickly taking them off of him and adding it to her own, then placing them back in her satchel. “Thank you, sorry for, uh, scaring you out of your internal monologuing.”

“...Pardon?”

“Oh, well you were just stood there, like those boys in shonen anime who kinda just… talk to themselves about fighting the enemy rather than actually… fighting them, you know?” She smiled and laughed slightly, tilting her head to the side as she did so, the early morning sun hitting her face and lighting up her skin to create an almost angelic glow. “Oh, I’m Chisa - Chisa Yukizome! I’m in Class 74-A as the SHSL Housekeeper! And you?”

“...Kyosuke Munakata, 74-A, SHSL Student Council President.”

“Oh, same class! Mind if we walk together?”

“I suppose not.”

Chisa smiled up at him again, and he nodded in response, acknowledging her gladness to be in his presence. As they walked to class, she spoke of her family, and hopes, and while he was in no way willing to divulge the same information about himself, he almost admired how naive she was, and how brightly her eyes sparkled when she talked of the future.

 

Perhaps, she would become a favourable ally. Perhaps, even a friend.

\--

Only a few years left, and despite his best efforts, no luck had come to him in finding this mysterious soulmate.

 

Fate had played him cruelly. So cruelly, in fact, that things were beginning to deteriorate in his plan. The overseas branch was almost done, but, back in the main academy of Hope’s Peak, there were riots, and unexplained deaths, and things beyond the comprehension of human decency. While he had always known the motivations of Hope’s Peak Academy had been less than pure, he never expected them to result in such crimes against humanity.

 

“I’m heading to the airport as I speak.” And true enough, he was packing papers into his briefcase with one hand, clearing his desk in the temporary office he’d been working in for months. “Are things manageable?”

_ “Yeah, Juzo’s trying his damndest out there… sometimes, punching things blindly really works in his favour.” _

“His impulsiveness and spontaneous decision making will make good assets if things are to escalate.” A click, and the case was closed, as Munakata reached to the back of the office chair for his jacket, putting it on with his free hand as best he could. “And you? Are you safe?”

_ “Yeah, I think so. I’ve gotten my class locked up in this room, we should be OK, though some of them are missing… Kyosuke, what’s going to happen?” _

“...I cannot say, Yukizome. But, please stay safe.”

_ “I will, I promise. I’m a teacher, and your most valuable companion, after all. It’s not like I can get myself into too much trouble.” _

“Neither of those are related, neither to each other or the point you made.”

Chisa blew a quiet raspberry down the phone, before pausing with a quiet gasp.  _ “Oh, you laughed!!” _

“Hardly. It was more like a quick, amused exhale.”

_ “I’ll take what I can get, Mr Grumpy Pants.” _

“...Hmph. I see. So that’s what you think of me.”

She laughed as lightly she always did, before the line fell silent for a moment, just as Munakata left his office at a brisk pace, leaving the door wide open.  _ “...Tell me, Kyosuke. Do robots like you dream of love?” _

“...I’m not sure whether to be insulted by such a remark.”

_ “More of an observation. It’s just that… well, you know the clock, right? The soulmate clock?” _

“Unfortunately. Yukizome, why do you bring this up at a time like this?”

_ “Well, I just wondered… has yours stopped counting down?” _

“...What?”

_ “Mine has, and I… don’t know if it means I’ve run out of time to meet my soulmate, or I’ve already found them, or what-” _

The silence was eerie, and for a moment, Munakata stopped to take the phone off of his ear, checking the signal - full reception - before speaking up again. “...Yukizome?”

_ “...Kyosuke, I have to go. One of my students, she-” _

“Stay put, do not move.”

_ “I’m her teacher, Kyosuke. I have to go see her before she gets hurt.” _

“Yukizome, don’t you-”

The line hung up before he could finish his threat, and Munakata sighed as he got to the front of the office building, hauling himself into the car hired to drive him to the airport and almost throwing his briefcase onto the seat next to him, his voice cracking for a moment as he gave his demand, hoping it would be enough to get there in time for her.

 

“Drive. Fast. Now.”

\--

When the gas first hit, the countdown had 2 minutes left.

 

Among all this, that panic was the worst thing of all, knowing that someone was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it. His eyes darted around desperately, seeing Chisa by the phone, leaning up against the wall and sliding down it, unable to maintain the energy to stand. And while his own body felt heavy, he still tried to move, reaching his hand out to her with the last of his energy.

“Yukizome… don’t… breathe it in…”

From across the room, she looked up at him with half-closed eyes, and smiled through the fog.

“Kyo… suke…”

From there, he collapsed, the last thing he saw was the soulmate clock on his wrist beeping at one minute left.

 

When he woke up, the clock was at 0. He was too late.

 

The words of the bear meant nothing to him. His foolish circumstances had caused some stranger their life. His eyes looked around again, counting all the people stood there, only missing one, prominent figure.

“Where’s Yukizome?”

Everyone fell silent. No one had an answer. His heart was in his mouth as he asked again. “Where’s Yukizome?”

But the game had already started - blood was dripping on the table, and the body of Chisa Yukizome was hanging from the chandelier above. Her arms hung down, her wrist clock long since dead, with years and years left. She’d met her soulmate, and knew they were her soulmate, and saved their life from fate. And as the chains of the chandelier began to snap, and her body fell with it, Munakata realised that, for all his intelligence and desperation to fight against the tides of fate, fate had swept away the one good thing he’d ever had, and his one chance to do something for himself - his soulmate, his destiny, was lying on the table, dead and broken, taken away by the despair he hated so.

 

“Tell me, Chisa…. Tell me… Am I… wrong?”


End file.
